Mystic Man's Daughter
by Sanura Bey
Summary: He sent her away to protect her. He sent her away to protect the princess. DG would need Rose in the upon her return. Unknown to him, he sent her away from another reason. Another person would need her when she returned. The daughter of a seer and the wizard, will Rose be able to protect her friends and family from the Wicked Witch?
1. Prologue

A carriage traveled down the Brick Route from Central City carrying two old friends and their most valued treasures, their daughters.

"I want to thank you again." the young mother told her companion. "I know this isn't easy."

"No, it isn't." he agreed. "But this will save her from what plagues her dreams." He looked to his daughter, his Rose, as she watched the world passing them by, her red hair held back in an intricate braid so it remained out of her green eyes.. She'd never left Central City after her mother's passing. Back then she was too young to remember. He looked beside the carriage at the Tin Men surrounding them. His newest man had made an impression on the Mystic Man and his daughter. He played with Rose when her father was working and calmed her when she woke screaming from the nightmares until her father could get to her.

"Only until the time is right." His Queen reminded him, pulling her angel into her side. "I pray they are ready."

"They will be." He told her, trying to convince them both. He turned back to his daughter and watched her awhile longer. The circles under her eyes had grown darker in the recent months. Every time she woke screaming after a nightmare, she got a familiar look in her eyes and said, "She's back." Now, not many would know what she had meant, but he did. And he told that valuable information to the only other people who knew the secret. The royal family.

"I'll be sealing their memories with magic, to protect them." She told him. He nodded his understanding as the carriage came to a stop. The four of them climbed out and walked towards a cyborg fixing a tractor. He looked up at their approach, taking note of their appearance and faces. He rose from his work and greeted them.

"Your majesty. Mystic Man. What can I do for you today?" he asked them.

"We need your help." She told him. He ushered them into his home and they explained what they needed for him to do. He agreed and quickly left then alone.

"Do you mind if I have a few moments with Rose, your majesty?" Mystic Man asked his queen, his hand tightening around his daughter's slightly.

"Of course, old friend." She told him with a sorrowful smile. "Be quick." He nodded in understanding and thanks before picking up his young daughter and leaving the house. He looked for a quiet place to speak with her and saw a hill with a lone tree on it. They made their way there in perfect silence. Once at the tree, he sat Rose down on a log and sat next to her.

"Do you understand what's happening, Rose?" he asked her.

"The little wind storm and I are being sent away." She said after a moment.

"Yes, for protection. When the time is right you must return home and find the Queen and I once more." He instructed knowing she wouldn't remember this upon her return.

"Why only us?" Rose asked him. "Why can't you come too?"

"I must prepare for your return home. I'm needed here." He tried explaining to her.

"To stop the woman in my nightmares?" she asked.

"To try and stop her, yes." He corrected her.

"What if you stop her before it's time for us to return home?" she asked.

"Then I will come to collect you and the young princess." He answered wrapping her in his arms and pulling her close to him.

"I don't want to leave." She cried into his side. He couldn't think of anything to say to her to make her understand so he just spent his last few moments holding her as she cried. "I love you daddy."

"I love you too, Rose." He saw his Queen make her way out of the house with Father View. He unwrapped his arms from Rose and took her hand once more before making their way to them. By the time they arrived two Nurture Units were standing before the Queen, smiling lovingly at her daughter. They turned their eyes to his Rose and gave their shared smile to her.

"Rose, come here." The Queen ordered. Rose looked up at her father, who nodded his head at her. She released his hand and moved to stand next to the young princess. The Queen used her magic on both girls to block their memories of the O.Z. knocking them both out. The Nurture Units picked up both girls before the Queen summoned a Traveling Storm carrying them all to safety.


	2. Family of Four

I sat in the living room writing down my latest dream. DG was the artist, not me, but I'll never forget those eyes. The brilliant blue eyes that filed my vision every time I closed my eyes. Last night was different though. I saw an older man crying about something.

"It's time, Rose," he'd said. "Time to come home."

"Hey sweetie," mom said coming in from the kitchen and kissing my head.

"Hey, mom."

"What are you working on?" she asked me, reading over my shoulder.

"Mom, C'mon," I laughed hiding my journal. We heard someone storm down the stairs and I smiled as the door slammed closed. "DG is late again."

"That girl needs a new alarm clock if the one she has isn't going off," her mom sighed.

"It's not the clock," I mentioned staring at the paper. I was writing, but not seeing what I was writing, smile gone from my face. "A storm is coming."

"Rose?" mom moved to stand in front of me, but I didn't see her. I was seeing something else. A woman with lavender eyes and graying hair. A yellow brick road. A tornado. I looked up into my mother's eyes without really seeing her.

"It's time." I shook her head and groaned. Whatever had just been said was lost from my memory. "Sorry, mom. Guess I was staring into space again."

"Don't worry, hunny," mom said smiling down at me, but I could see her mind was already elsewhere.

* * *

After DG got off from work she went and helped dad at the windmill before they both came back to the house. I'd been sitting on the porch just watching the sky when mom came out to join me, her arms crossed over her chest. DG, as it turned out, got a speeding ticket again on her way to work. Mom wasn't happy about it and wanted to make sure DG had her head on right.

"Elmer Gulch is a menace to the community," DG said playing with one of mom's flowers.

"Menace or no, he's still an officer of the law," mom reminded her. "You're going to have to face the judge. Officer Gulch wants you in jail."

"He doesn't want me in jail," DG laughed. "He wouldn't have anybody to chase then."

"This is not a joke," mom scolded. "We'll be lucky if they just impound your bike."

"They can't impound my bike if I take off on it," DG told mom hinting at what she'd been telling me for some months now.

"I was wondering if the two of you were planning a trip." Mom grabbed something on the chair next to her and dropped it on the table. They were travel brochures I'd convinced DG to throw away the other night. She's been wanting to leave Kansas for months now and I'd convinced her to stay telling her we'd been leaving eventually. I just didn't know when.

"You went through our stuff?" DG asked annoyed.

"She's been worried," dad told her. "We both have. You've been acting strange. Distant."

"If you spend your every spare moment drawing your pictures, dreaming of another life, you're going to wind up never living the one you've got," mom told her.

"But this isn't my life," DG told her. "This town, that job, taking other peoples orders? That's just passing time. There has to be more to life than this."

"And you really think you'll find better out there?" mom asked crossing her arms again.

"Look, I love you guys I just don't feel at home here. I don't think I ever have." DG ran back into the house and, probably, up to our shared room.

"I'll talk to her." I got up from my chair and went to our room.

* * *

I sat next to her on her bed and stared at one of her drawings. It was a picture of the city between two hills and sitting next to a lake and it was my favorite.

"You sent to talk me down from leaving?" she asked me finally.

"Nah, you know I'll go with you if you want me too anyway," I reminded her.

"You told me we'd be leaving. When?"

"Sooner than mom and dad would like, that's for sure." I wrapped my arm around her and pulled her to me. "You know how overprotective they are of us, Deeg. Give them some time. Besides, you know how mom's always wanted us to stay close to home."

"She's been treating us like we're still kids," DG complained.

"That's what parents do, Deeg. Besides, you know how mom is. I'm telling you, the minute she realizes how much this means to you she'll apologize about going through our stuff."

"Knock knock," DG and I looked at the stairs to see dad walking into our room.

"You know your mom loves you more than anything in this world," dad told DG, his hands buried in his pockets.

"I know," DG told him. "I just wish she understood how I felt." Dad looked around the room before going to one of the many walls covered in pictures.

"You know, you're as good an artist as you are a mechanic. The world's going to be your oyster, someday." He turned and pointed at the opposite wall with a smile on his face. "I remember when I was in Milltown..."

"Dad, can you please stop talking about your perfect childhood in Milltown," DG asked him. "This is real life."

"Horace your old man all you like, these sketches just remind me of home," dad told us. "No matter where we find ourselves, home is where your heart is."

"We can't stay here forever," DG told him. Dad moved from the pictures to sit at DG's feet on the bed.

"There's a place and a time when we learn where we're supposed to be," he told her looking between the two of us. Guess he heard our conversation from earlier. "And the two of you are almost there, and," dad looked like he wanted to say something but seemed to say something different. "Don't forget, all of life's answers..."

"Can be found along the old road," DG and I said together.

"How about the one about the daughter of light who searches for her..."

"Frozen in time on a sea of ice," we said again.

"You've got to get some new material, dad," DG said and he just nodded with a smile. "And you've gotta realize we're not little girls anymore."

"You'll always be my baby girls." Dad placed his hand on DG's arm and she just smiled at him. "Your mom's made supper." We got up and followed him downstairs. I couldn't help but feel like there was something they weren't telling us, and they'd never have the chance while we were in this house.


	3. A Storm is Here

After supper, I changed into my PJs and went straight to sleep. While asleep, I saw the same crystal blue eyes before it turned to a hill overlooking a small town. The scene changed to two young girls dancing together with their mother watching them. Then it changed to an older man chasing his daughter through the halls. Men, wearing a star inside of a circle that said the city name on it, surrounded them for protection.

"The little wind storm and I are being sent away." She heard a young voice say. It sounded familiar, but she couldn't place it.

"I must prepare for your return home." An older man told the girl.

"To stop the woman in my nightmares?"

"I don't want to leave." Rose could almost see the young red-head and an older man hugging each other tightly. They separated when someone called for them, but the girl turned to look at her and made her way over. Rose knelt and stared into her own eyes. Was this a memory? She didn't remember this ever happening. "It's time to go home. They need the two of you together."

"What are you talking about?" Rose asked the girl, herself, quietly. She started saying something, but Rose couldn't hear it. "What did you say?"

"You're not ready to hear," she said. "You need to wake up and get ready. You're going to be doing a lot of running soon. I'd change if I were you." I looked down at my short shorts and my tank before waking up in my bed. I looked next to me to see DG tossing and turning in her sleep. I quickly got up and changed into jeans. My shirt was white with a sheer purple overlayer. On my feet, I put on purple boots that had gold studs going up the sides. I looked outside as I put on my black jacket and saw a terrible tornado outside.

"Deeg," I said moving to her side and shaking her. She woke up, startled. "Get your jacket. We've got to go." The lights flickered and we went down the stairs only to hear someone groaning in pain. When we got to the bottom steps, I turned and saw Dad on the floor holding the top of his head.

"Dad!" Deeg called out. "Are you okay?"

"No! DG, Rose, go back!" Dad ordered, but two men grabbed us and pulled us to them. Deeg screamed before biting the man's hand while I stomped on the guy's foot before headbutting him. I went to Mom and punched the guy in the face before grabbing her arm and pulling her behind me after Dad and DG. One of the guys shot at us, breaking one of Mom's vases. "Go! Go!" Dad had gotten shot in the leg and I went back to help him over the cabinet.

"Dad! Rose! Come on!" DG called to us. The four of us ran to mine and DG's room and shut the door behind us. "Dad are you okay?" DG asked him as we climbed the stairs.

"I'm fine," Dad told her. Mom and Dad grabbed one of our dressers and dropped it down the stairs in order to prevent the men from getting to us. "Go, go."

"Dad, who were those guys?" DG asked him and he and Mom went to the windows.

"Longcoats," he told her.

"What are Longcoats?" I asked him.

"This wasn't the way it was planned," Mom told him.

"I know but it's our only chance," Dad told her. "We have to take them now."

"Take us where?" DG asked.

"There's no time to explain, DG," Mom told her. They pushed us out of the window and towards the tornado.

"Dad, what are we doing?!" DG asked him over the wind.

"Trust me!" he told us.

"The two of you have to jump!" Mom told us.

"Not without you guys!" I said.

"You have to jump!" Dad told us again. "We have to go, DG, Rose! The Longcoats are after the two of you!"

"What why?!" DG asked.

"Because it's time!" Mom told us.

"Time for what?!" I asked her. They pushed us towards the tornado.

"What are you going?!" DG asked them.

"You have to trust us!" I grabbed DG's hand before they pushed us into the tornado.


End file.
